Regent Moray: Life Story

Published23rd January 2016

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Chapter
4
: The Lords of the Congregation

As
more of the lords converted to the new faith,
Marie of Guise tried to follow a
path of toleration, permitting both Protestant and Catholic services to
continue side-by-side – her ultimate goal was not religious uniformity, but to
keep her daughter
Mary recognised as Queen, and in control of the country.
Unfortunately religious tolerance was not acceptable in 16
th century
Europe either to Catholics or to Protestants and both sides wanted more – the
Catholics to follow the crack-downs in ‘
heresy’ being implemented in France,
Spain and England, and the Protestants to overthrow the ancient religion,
obedience to the Pope, and the alliance with France.

In
1558 the Protestant Lords in Scotland formed themselves into a group called the
Lords of the Congregation. Lord James did not immediately join this group. He
seems to have been attached to his stepmother,
Queen Marie, and reluctant to
enter into open rebellion.

So
long as
Mary I of England lived, the Lords of the Congregation had no external
power to support them against the strength of France, but the situation changed
with her death in November 1558. The new Queen, Elizabeth I, was known to be
sympathetic to the Protestant cause (although she advanced slowly at home). More importantly for the Protestant lords, her chief minister,
William Cecil,
was well-known personally to both James and Maitland of Lethington (a leading
Protestant, despite being Queen Marie’s secretary) and was a committed
Protestant.

Sir William Maitland of Lethington (1525 - 1573)

In
November 1558, although not a fully-fledged member of the Congregation, James
was one of the signatories to a letter to John Knox, again inviting him to
return to Scotland. Knox, at first hesitating after the debacle of his wasted
trip in 1557, eventually arrived Scotland on 10 May 1559. Two days later he
rode to Dundee to meet the Protestant leaders, although James remained with the
Regent,
Queen Marie.

Queen
Marie, now that her immediate object of having
Queen Mary married to the Dauphin
of France was complete, and perhaps alarmed by the spread of the new faith,
changed her previous policy of toleration and moved against the Protestant
preachers, planning to have them outlawed and exiled. On being urged to keep
her promise of toleration she informed her horrified councillors that rulers
should not be coerced into keeping promises that were no longer convenient.

The
banned preachers assembled at Perth. Worried lest they be seen to be an army,
rather than a peaceful gathering of preachers, Erskine of Dun sent a message to
the Regent assuring her that their aims were peaceful. The Regent listened to
him and agreed that the summons to Stirling that she had previously issued to
the preachers should be abandoned. Foolishly, in hindsight, she again went back
on her word and the preachers were outlawed.

Knox began to preach in Perth. He was a man of extraordinary rhetorical power, and, following one of his sermons, an iconoclastic riot broke out, which completely destroyed the interior of the Church of St John’s as well as those of the Friary and the Charterhouse in the the town. Knox, whilst not entirely condoning these acts, referring to them as carried out by the ‘rascal multitude’ ,did not heartily condemn them, either.

The
Regent could not accept such a challenge to her rule and, raising troops,
marched on Perth. She was still accompanied by Lord James, whom she sent,
together with the Earl of Argyll and Lord Sempill, to ask the Protestant
leaders why they were holding Perth against their lawful ruler.

Lord James visited Knox in his lodgings and received messages that the Protestants were not rebelling, but defending true religion. As was usual with Knox he gilded the lily by informing Marie that her religion was ‘a superstition devised by the brain of man’ and that he was a better friend to her people than she. Unsurprisingly, the Regent was ‘somewhat offended’ by Knox’s message. Nevertheless she continued to negotiate and it was agreed that both armies would disband and the Queen Regent be free to enter the city. No punishment was to be carried out and no French troops would be left in the city. Parliament was to be called to resolve the differences between the groups.

No
French garrison was left, however 400 Scottish troops loyal to the Crown were
stationed in the city. This was declared to be a breach of the agreement by the
Regent on the basis that pay for the Scottish troops came from France.

There
was now complete breakdown between the Congregation and
Queen Marie. She
continued to state that the Lords of the Congregation were not necessarily
motivated by religion but wished to overthrow her lawful authority. She summoned
more troops from France. The Lords of the Congregation requested help from
England, which Elizabeth was reluctant to openly grant, despite the persuasions
of
Sir William Cecil.

The
appearance of French troops on Scottish soil led many of the nobles to believe
that the French were as bad as the English, whilst the common people do not
seem to have been markedly in favour of supporting either side.

Lord
James, having put off the evil moment as long as possible, was now forced to
choose sides. On 11
th June 1559 he, together with the Earl of Argyll,
joined the Lords of the Congregation and requested help from Protestant
England.